The present invention relates to a moving apparatus for moving a moving member within a hollow curved pipe-arrangement and a method of performing operations within the pipe arrangement by using the moving apparatus. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a moving apparatus for moving a moving member, for drawing a cable or wire such as an electric wire, as well as the operation of inserting various inspection devices for maintenance and inspection into, a pipe-arrangement prepared by combining elbows, bent pipes, branch pipes, laid, for example, underground in a state wherein it is curved in a complicated manner, and also a method of performing the operations within the pipe-arrangement by using the moving apparatus.
Conventionally, in order to carry out the inspecting operation within a hollow curved pipe-arrangement, it is necessary to insert the inspecting devices such as, for example, checking and working instruments into the pipe-arrangement. For this reason, the conventional inspecting operation is carried out by passing a tractive inserting wire through the pipe arrangement and causing this wire to pull and insert such inspecting devices, or, alternatively, by loading the inspecting devices directly onto a moving device in the pipe arrangement and causing this moving device to pull the inspecting devices. On the other hand, the wiring operation for a cable such as, for example, an electric wire was carried out by passing it through the pipe arrangement in the same manner as in the case of passing said tractive inserting wire therethrough.
A moving device arranged to move through the pipe arrangement by utilizing the fluid therein is conventionally employed as a moving device which moves in the hollow curved pipe-arrangement. This moving device includes moving legs, a main body arranged to control the legs and adjust the fluid pressure, an operation instrument pulled by the main body, and a working instrument. A control device controls the position and velocity of the moving device and the working instrument, a monitoring device monitors the operating manner of the devices and instruments and gives commands thereto, and an electric power source is provided. An operation wire or cable wound around a drum is attached directly to the moving device and and the wire or cable is pulled by the moving device in the pipe arrangement, whereby the wiring operation in the pipe arrangement, or the inspecting operation in the pipe arrangement is carried out. However, a disadvantage of the above-described type of moving device resides in the fact that it is only capable of passing through a pipe-arrangement having an inner diameter of, for example, about 150 mm or more and a radius of curvature of about 750 mm. Thus, the above-proposed moving device may not be applied in various practical pipes such as a small-diameter pipe, a bend, an elbow, or a branch pipe having an inner diameter of about 20 to 40 mm. More particularly, the proposed type of moving device is not useable in, for example, a curved pipe arrangement comprising a combination of such practical pipes.
Namely, the above-mentioned moving device is intended to be applied with respect to a pipe or pipe-arrangement having a relatively large inner diameter. Additionally, although it can be effectively used with respect to a linear pipe, difficulty is encountered in applying the same to a hollow curved pipe-arrangement prepared by combining various pipes in a complicated manner.